Jagan opens Sea Harrier museum, encourages cricketers on a busy workday
VISHAKHAPATNAM: It was a day of project unveilings and inaugurations for the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who on Thursday unveiled a statue of Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy at the ACA-VDCA cricket stadium, inaugurated a private cancer care centre and in the evening, opened the Sea Harrier Jet museum for the public.
In the morning, the Chief Minister interacted with women cricketers at the stadium in Madhurawada of Visakhapatnam and presented cheques of Rs 10 lakh to international cricketers Anjali Sarvani and Shabnam.
“The AP government will encourage meritorious sportspersons and support the Andhra Cricket Association, which is shaping youngsters as international cricketers,” he said after the statue unveiling.
The Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association organised an informal meeting with the Chief Minister, who was also taken on a tour of an exhibition of pictures of cricketing history. After interacting with over 100 sportspersons, the Chief Minister posed for a group photo with them.
Seeking suggestions and action plans from sports bodies, the Chief Minister asked the Andhra Cricket Association secretary Gopinath Reddy to make a road map for players showing potential.
The ACA felicitated the Chief Minister and presented him with a memento to mark the occasion.
Later in the day, the Chief Minister inaugurated the Apollo Cancer Center, developed across 54,000 square feet with a TrueBeam STX machine to offer precise radiation therapy, in a first for the state, according to Apollo Hospitals chairman Prathap C. Reddy.
Health minister Vidadala Rajani, education minister Botsa Satyanarayana and revenue minister Dharmana Prasasa Rao were also present.
In the evening, Jagan Mohan Reddy visited the RK Beach and inaugurated the Sea Harrier jet museum in the presence of commander-in-chief of Eastern Naval Command, Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, and other senior officials, including tourism minister R.K. Roja.
Officials said that the museum is a part of the first phase of an integrated museum complex developed at Rs 10 crore by the VMRDA. The British-built reconnaissance and attack aircraft is 47 feet high, 26 feet wide and 15 feet high.
Sources said that the Chief Minister directed local officials to keep the beach clean and maintain it on par with internationally renowned beaches.
The Chief Minister, in the virtual mode, also inaugurated a Rs 25-crore indoor stadium at MVP Colony built by GVMC. He also inaugurated a VMRDA-built commercial complex worth Rs 13.5 crore in Ramnagar and laid the foundation stone for a fish landing centre at Bheemili beach, which will cost Rs 24.8 crore.
Before flying back, the Chief Minister attended the wedding reception of Payakaraopeta MLA Golla Babu Rao’s son, held at the AU Convention Hall on RK Beach, located near the Sea Harrier Museum.
